Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the two speakers and apologise for missing the start of the meeting. I had other things to attend to, including speaking in the Chamber. I have read the briefings we received and the earlier reports. There were some very interesting points. If the UK does leave, will this lead to instability in the EU and increased tensions in other countries regarding exit? If the UK stays and certain reforms were initiated to sweeten the deal to keep it inside the EU, would this lead to other countries requesting changes in certain areas they might not be happy with? Would this pressure arise?

Mr. Zuleeg mentioned the fact that the UK is our English-speaking ally and an exit would increase the role of Germany and language issues because French and German would be more to the fore. Is that realistic in terms of a change? Mr. Zuleeg also mentioned the fact that an exit would mean one less net payer to the budget and mentioned the impact on the budget and oversight. How would it affect oversight in terms of how the money is spent? We have the Court of Auditors and various methods to ensure that money is spent correctly.

Mr. Freudenstein mentioned the EU civil service in terms of the British population and that the British population makes up about 12% of the EU population. In 2004, they made up 9.6% of the people working in the Commission. This has dropped to 5.3%. Does Mr. Freudenstein think that this had an impact in terms of taking in the views of the British people or some of the things they might be more concerned about because they do not have as many senior people working within the Commission?

Mr. Zuleeg mentioned that he has heard the view that countries will not believe that life will end if the UK leaves. Does he believe that if the UK was of the part of the euro, the consequences would be far more dire?